Improvement of InN layers deposited on Si(111) by RF sputtering using a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer

We investigate the influence of a low-growth-rate InN buffer layer on structural and optical properties of wurtzite nanocrystalline InN films deposited on Si(111) substrates by reactive radio-frequency sputtering. The deposition conditions of the InN buffer layer were optimized in terms of morphological and structural quality, leading to films with surface root-mean-square roughness of similar to 1 nm under low-growth-rate conditions (60 nm/h). The use of the developed InN buffer layer improves the crystalline quality of the subsequent InN thick films deposited at high growth rate (180 nm/h), as confirmed by the narrowing of X-ray diffraction peaks and the increase of the average grain size of the layers. This improvement of the structural quality is further confirmed by Raman scattering spectroscopy measurements. Room temperature PL emission peaking at similar to 1.58 eV is observed for InN samples grown with the developed buffer layer. The crystal and optical quality obtained for InN films grown on Si(111) using the low-growth-rate InN buffer layer become comparable to high-quality InN films deposited directly on GaN templates by RF sputtering. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.